NDP, Tories spar over health spending

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This article was published 14/08/2023 (800 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New Democrats have cast doubt on big-ticket health promises made by the Tory government after taxpayer dollars meant for capital improvements went unspent for years.

The Manitoba government spent $132 million on health-care infrastructure in the 2021-22 fiscal year — or about $162 million less than was forecast in its budget.

“This is nothing new from the PCs,” said NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara at a campaign event in Windsor Park in the Southdale constituency Monday. “They have a pattern of making announcements and not following through on their own commitments to health care in Manitoba.

“The PCs can be trusted to only do one thing and that is break their promises to Manitobans and fail on health care.”

The NDP estimates the Tories under spent the health budget by $698 million, or about $116 million annually, from when they took power, in April 2016, to March 2022.

In the first three years of the Tory government, and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, health-care infrastructure spending was an estimated $357 million below budget, according to spending forecasts in the province’s third-quarter reports. Actual spending on health infrastructure is not reported in public accounts for those years.

Between April 2020 and March 2022, health infrastructure spending was $268 million below budget, based on the province’s financial reports.

Restricted access to hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic and other related disruptions delayed capital projects from proceeding, according to the government.

The province has yet to release its public accounts for the past fiscal year. The Tories budgeted $294 million in health infrastructure spending in 2022-23 and $291 million in 2023-24.

“This money could have meant more emergency rooms for communities that need them, it could have meant more personal care home beds — hundreds of personal care home beds — and it could have meant new CancerCare facilities,” said Asagwara.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Audrey Gordon said the NDP had misrepresented the budgeting process, but did not comment on the shortfall between budgeted and actual health infrastructure spending.

“Health capital projects announced by our government are approved by Treasury Board and can be found in the respective budgets — funds are available and flowing as approved and scheduled,” the spokesperson said in a statement, noting the government promised $1.3 billion to update and expand health care centres across Manitoba.

On Monday, Asagwara would not commit the NDP to spending the entirety of its health capital budget, if the party wins the Oct. 3 election.

Rather, the MLA said the NDP would focus on improving health outcomes for Manitobans. No new commitments for health capital spending were made by the NDP on Monday.

The party reiterated promises to expand the University of Manitoba’s Bannatyne campus at Health Sciences Centre and its commitment to uphold the government’s current fiscal framework, including any infrastructure promises.

Premier Heather Stefanson has announced the government would spend $1.5 billion over six years to redevelop HSC and replace obsolete buildings with state-of-the-art private patient rooms and space for procedures.

Asagwara said an NDP government would “turn the page” on the Tories’ approach to health care and promised more announcements would be forthcoming.

Cabinet minister Cliff Cullen called the NDP attack “astounding,” considering the party voted against the government’s spring budget.

“Health care didn’t break overnight, and we all know it won’t be fixed overnight — no matter what the NDP claim,” Cullen said in a statement issued by the Progressive Conservative party.

Cullen is not seeking re-election.

“But we are on the path to healing with almost $8 billion, expanding numerous hospitals, ERs, ORs and ICUs, and making the largest-ever healthcare capital investment in Manitoba history of $1.5 billion at HSC to create more patient rooms.”

Cullen said projects being delayed or coming in under budget can influence overall capital spending.

“It’s no surprise that the NDP lacks a basic understanding of the budgeting process.”

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca